2011 Jobs & Unemployment Summary, Facts, and Figures

LATEST Jobs Number Revisions for 2011 as of February 2013:

• 2,193,000* jobs in TOTAL have been ADDED in 2011.
• 2,420,000* private sector jobs have been ADDED.
• 317,000* government sector jobs have been LOST.

Summary for all of 2011 of February 2012:

• 1,840,000* jobs in TOTAL have been ADDED in 2011.
• 2,105,000* private sector jobs have been ADDED.
• 265,000* government sector jobs have been LOST.
• The unemployment rate FELL from 9.4% to 8.5%.
• The official alternate unemployment rate FELL from 16.6% to 15.2%.
• The civilian labor force (people working and people actively looking for work) increased by 274,000. 
• 1,570,000 MORE people reported themselves as employed.
• 1,296,000 FEWER people reported themselves as UNemployed.
• 833,000 FEWER people reported themselves as among the long-term unemployed
• 97,000 FEWER people claimed to "want a job" (but don't have one and have not looked for a job within the past month.) 

* These numbers have been revised since they were originally published.  Here are the original numbers:  Total jobs increased by 1,640,000.  Private jobs increased by 1,920,000.  Government jobs declined by 280,000.  Please note that revisions to jobs numbers occur frequently during the first two years after numbers are published, as "real" data from employers clarifies the initial survey data.  Also, minor revisions to jobs numbers are often made up to five to ten years after the initial numbers.

Promising numbers, but....

Total Jobs Numbers:

All of these numbers are very promising, considering the deep hole that the country was in three years ago.  However, we have a long way to go.  8,750,000 jobs were lost between early 2008 and early 2010, when we began adding jobs.  We've added 2,654,000 jobs in total* since that trough, but that means we have 6 million more jobs to add*, not counting jobs for people who have been added to the civilian workforce in the past four years.  We're still in that hole, and the climb out of that hole has been slow and difficult indeed.  

(Current numbers can always be found HERE.)

Private sector jobs numbers:

The private sector job toll has been a bit brighter, but still difficult:  We lost 8,838,000 private sector jobs in that same period, from January 2008 until January 2010.  We've added 3,156,000 since the trough.  We have about 5,700,000 private sector jobs to add, again, not counting jobs for people who have been added to the civilian workforce in the past four years. 

Government Sector Jobs Numbers:

Layoffs in the government sectors have added to employment difficulties:  Not counting hiring for Census 2010, government hiring (federal, state, and local sectors) actually peaked in April 2009.   We have lost 709,000 government sector jobs since that time, with declines in 18 of the last 19 months. 

The numbers for 2011 have all been extracted from the monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Report.  The numbers from 2008 forward were all taken from data extracted on the BLS Databases and Tools page.  I publish many updates based on BLS data.  Current articles are indexed HERE.

State Job Growth Rankings 2011

States ranking by Percentage of  Job Growth for all of 2011:

Below are the rankings of the fifty states based on percentage of job growth for the year 2011.  December numbers are preliminary.  Four states, Missouri, Alaska, Delaware, and Georgia, have  experienced a decrease in jobs for the year of 2011.  The average percentage job growth for the United States in 2011 was +1.22% 

I've included the party affiliation of the governors and legislatures of the various states.  See the legend after the data.

2012 State Rankings by Job and Employment Growth HERE!

  Latest (2011, 2012, & 2013) Jobs and Unemployment Reports HERE!! 

Which States Received Lumps of Coal in Job Creation for November 2011? 



(Note:  These numbers are based on the monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Reports.  The BLS reports include month over month and year over year numbers.  Data for my monthly reports is taken from that BLS report copied to a spreadsheet every month.  I will continue to add more reports on state data in the coming days.)

Rank	State	Governor...	Legislature.....	% +/- Jobs.......	Rank Last Month
1.	North Dakota	R	R	+5.73	1.
2.	Utah	R	R	+3.04	3.
3.	Oklahoma	R	R	+2.72	2.
4.	Louisiana	R	M	+2.52	5.
5.	Wyoming	R	R	+2.25	4.
6.	Texas	R	R	+1.96	8.
7.	California	D	D	+1.34	9.
8.	Kentucky	D	M	+1.74	19.
9.	Michigan	R	R	+1.72	11.
10.	South Dakota	R	R	+1.66	42.
11.	Florida	R	R	+1.59	17.
12.	Arizona	R	R	+1.57	7.
13.	Vermont	D	D	+1.47	13.
14.	Washington	D	D	+1.45	6.
15.	Ohio	R	R	+1.44	12.
16.	Nebraska	R	N	+1.39	14.
17.	West Virginia	D	D	+1.34	18.
18.	Idaho	R	R	+1.34	34.
19.	Massachusetts	D	D	+1.27	10.
20.	Tennessee	R	R	+1.19	15.
21.	New Hampshire	D	R	+1.18	20.
22.	Oregon	D	M	+1.11	30.
23.	South Carolina	R	R	+1.10	16.
24.	Colorado	D	M	+1.06	23.
25.	Pennsylvania	R	R	+1.05	26.
26.	Hawaii	D	D	+1.03	21.
27.	New York	D	M	+1.01	22.
28.	Virginia	R	R	+1.01	37.
29.	Maryland	D	D	+1.00	33.
30.	Minnesota	D	R	+1.00	36.
31.	Kansas	R	R	+0.96	35.
32.	New Jersey	R	D	+0.95	28.
33.	Illinois	D	D	+0.94	24.
34.	Montana	D	R	+0.93	31.
35.	Iowa	R	M	+0.91	25.
36.	New Mexico	R	D	+0.89	27.
37.	Arkansas	D	D	+0.69	32.
38.	Indiana	R	R	+0.63	47.
39.	Connecticut	D	D	+0.56	39.
40.	North Carolina	D	R	+0.51	40.
41.	Alabama	R	R	+0.39	44.
42.	Nevada	R	D	+0.37	29.
43.	Mississippi	R	D	+0.25	38.
44.	Wisconsin	R	R	+0.12	46.
45.	Rhode Island	I	R	+0.11	48.
46.	Maine	R	R	+0.02	41.
47.	Missouri	D	R	-0.14	43.
48.	Georgia	R	R	-0.36	49.
49.	Alaska	R	M	-0.52	45.
50.	Delaware	D	R	-2.80	50.

Legend: 

• R- Republican 
• D- Democratic 
• I-  Independent
• M- Mixed
• N- Non-partisan  

Is there any relationship between the party in control of a state and the rate of job creation in that state?

Based on the rankings in this report, there does not appear to be any consistent correlation between control of the state politically and job growth.  Seven states in the top 10 are now completely controlled by Republicans, as are four states in the bottom 10.  21 states are now controlled completely by Republicans.  14 of those states are in the top half of the rankings, and 7 Republican states are in the bottom half.  10 states are now controlled completely by Democrats.  5 of those states are in the top half of the rankings, and 5 of those states are in the bottom half.  


However, the biggest key to job growth in 2011 is the growth of the mining sector.  The mining sector also includes oil extraction and logging.  Seven states in the top 10 experienced an increase of at least 10% in mining sector jobs.  Most states with significant mining activity are smaller states controlled by Republicans.  As a whole, the mining and logging sector has experienced the strongest job growth in the United States for 2011.  

Biggest improvement:  South Dakota, Idaho, Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, Oregon, Minnesota, and Florida, each advancing at least 5 slots from last month.


Nevada, Iowa, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington, South Carolina, Mississippi, Maine, Arkansas, Arizona, Hawaii, New York, and Tennessee all declined at least 5 slots since last month.

  Latest (May 2012 & all 2011 & 2012) Jobs and Unemployment Reports HERE!! 

Which States Received Lumps of Coal in Job Creation for November 2011?  

Unemployed Man Makes 21 million bucks!

Did he win the lottery?

No, most of this money was capital gains on the money the now unemployed man made a decade or two earlier as he laid off and offshored jobs, resulting in people losing their homes, their health, and their spirit.

We're talking  Mitt Romney here, who just released his recent tax returns earlier today.  He is probably going to try to tell us that all of that money he squirreled away while at Bain "helped create jobs".  


Mitt Romney Unemployed?


Do you remember that clip of Mitt attempting to make small talk with a group of voters on the campaign trail?  HERE, in case you have forgotten.  Mitt claims to be "just like them" and unemployed.  Uh huh.  


Just how much is 21 million?  

21 million...  420 families could have a "median" income for that 21 million.  Or he could keep two million and 380 families could have a "median" income with the rest.  But we all know that Mitt earned that money by working hard, long hours.. by being smarter and more strategic than the rest of us.  

So he deserves every last penny of that 21 million (even though he didn't work during the past year)... and the 21 million that he earned in 2010 as well. 

And the rest of those people who worked for the companies that Bain butchered deserve.. well, they were lazy, not very smart, and they just weren't very aggressive.  So they deserve whatever they wound up with, which probably wasn't much.  


What would you do if you made 42 million in the last two years?

SOPA Blackout, More SOPA.. and PIPA too!

As you may know by now, Wikipedia is blacking itself out to protest the proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation which would seriously dampen, if not eliminate altogether, free and open communication and speech on the Internet.  It would accomplish this, in short, by making the purveyors of such open communication; websites that rely on user content, such as Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook, even etsy and eBay, responsible for any copyright infringements that appear on their sites.  Whole sites could be shut down due to one potential copyright infringement that hasn't even been judicially vetted.   Online piracy should be curtailed or stopped, but this is like whacking off your big toe because you have a hangnail.  Or like blowing up your house because you have a leak in your plumbing.  

Sources and resources on SOPA:

Information about Wikipedia's campaign to call attention to these laws can be found  HERE.

My basic article on the Wikipedia blackout and SOPA HERE.


Here's a list of other sites that are in support of SOPA; that have information about SOPA and/or PIPA, that contain petitions to Congressional legislatures against SOPA and PIPA:

Google Joins Online SOPA Protest

SOPA Strike Info

Good, basic article on SOPA at Huffington Post

The Big Move On Petition against SOPA 

Raw Story is blacked out for SOPA

Obama has come out against SOPA

Rob Zerban for Congress Blacking out against SOPA

Electronic Frontier Foundation One Page Against SOPA

Progressives Kick Ass: Stop SOPA!

How Smart Politics and Online Activism Can Force Congress to Block SOPA

Help Reddit save the Internet.. There's a petition here!

Occupy Cyberspace - American Autumn Protests the Protect IP Act
 

#WikipediaBlackOut Has Started!

A World Without Wikipedia

Wikipedia is one of the most visited sites in the world.  It is the first and fastest way to find out about just about anything you don't know anything about... Or to check on updates to things you do know something about.  You can also update the online user-maintained and developed encyclopedia when you yourself have something to contribute about a topic.  The links are usually superior, so if the information you want is not on the Wikipedia page itself, check out the links.

What would a world without Wikipedia be like?  Well, much Internet research would become more time-consuming and difficult.  You won't be as quickly able to separate wheat from chaff when Internet rumors or just plain myths pop up.  That simple, fast first step into any question or Internet research would be gone.  Now why is Wikipedia in jeopardy?  

SOPA:  Stop Online Piracy Act.  A Good Thing?

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives in late 2011,  "SOPA" is the Stop Online Piracy Act.  (HR 3261).    You may think:  Stop online piracy!  What can be wrong with that?  Isn't it a good idea that musicians and movie makers and poets and authors and entrepreneurs can't have their work stolen via the Internet?  What can be wrong with a good, strong law to stop these kinds of shenanigans?  

The United States Chamber of Commerce believes that rogue websites  "steal America's innovative and creative products, attract more than 53 billion visits a year, and threaten more than 19 million American jobs."

This bill also helps to protect against illegal sales of foreign drugs, mis-branded drugs, or simply counterfeit drugs to American citizens.  

So what can be wrong with a bill that keeps Americans safe from counterfeit drugs and protects American jobs in the motion picture, recording, and online industries?  

Well...

What Does Online Piracy Have To Do with Wikipedia?

That brings us back to Wikipedia.  SOPA is a very severe, strong, and difficult to enforce law.  It's like knocking down a house because there is a plumbing problem.

Because of the provisions of SOPA, it would make companies such as Facebook, Google, eBay, Etsy, Wikipedia, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, etc., liable for the copyright infringements of any users to those sites.   From CNET:  "Policy analysts for New America Foundation say this legislation would enable law enforcement to take down an entire domain due to something posted on a single blog, arguing, "an entire largely innocent online community could be punished for the actions of a tiny minority." "

The Wikipedia article on SOPA is not blacked out, and I'm not going to duplicate all of their information here.  Check out the article yourself for more detail.  Keep trying or wait until the blackout is over if the page won't load.  

Let's just say that, based on the provisions of the bill, it would be impossible for those sites listed above, most of which are free or low-cost, to adequately and cheaply police their users, and they would either have to close down or to greatly scale back their scope.  It would sincerely inhibit freedom of speech, organization, and communication on the Internet. 

The Good Old Days Without an Internet With User Content

Can you remember the days before the Internet?  If you wanted to comment on an article in a newspaper, you submitted it in writing, and, if the editors liked your comment, it would appear, often severely abridged, sometimes changing the meaning of the whole comment.  That's what life might be like on the Internet after SOPA.  You want to comment on an article?  Your comment would go into a queue until someone o.k'd it.  Most websites would have to get rid of their comments section because they couldn't afford such moderation.  Facebook?  Facebook couldn't even exist with this kind of oversight.      

Here comes Wikipedia:

As one of the most visited sites based on user-contribution in the world, Wikipedia not only has a very vested interest in defeating SOPA and PIPA... but it has a unique opportunity to help in the process.  

So the #WikipediaBlackout ... to simulate a World Without Wikipedia.  See for yourself.  Just look up anything on Wikipedia now, and for the next 23 hours (until midnight Thursday, January 19, 2011) and see what you get.  Keep trying, as traffic is very slow as so many check out the #WikipediaBlackout . And notice what an inconvenience it is to not have access to Wikipedia all day today, January 18th.    

If you are concerned and disturbed about this prospective piece of legislation, you can contact your Congressional representatives directly from Wikipedia.  Also, here's a petition from MoveOn.org on the same subject.

Google provides information and a petition HERE.

Another great overview of the issue from CNET can be found at THIS LINK.

Should something be done about online piracy?  I think that most authors, filmmakers, musicians, and online entrepreneurs would say yes.  But, as I wrote above, SOPA is kind of like knocking down a house because the plumbing is leaking.  There must be a better way to fix this particular leak.      

Dogs Against Romney: Woof!

(Link to Dogs Against Romney in text)

Why are Dogs Against Romney? 

Do you know the story of Mitt Romney's dog Seamus and his infamous car ride?

If you haven't yet heard the tail ..... er ... tale (Anybody out there who hasn't heard it yet?), sometime in the 80's the Mitt Romney family embarked on a vacation involving a long car drive.  As the Romneys had five kids, they apparently had no room in the car for the family Irish setter, Seamus.  So father Mitt strapped a kennel to the top of the car and put Seamus in the kennel, in preparation for the 12 hour road trip.

Dogs Against Romney at the Dog Show and on MSN HERE: Februay 16th update!


Mutt Romney Blues with Ry Cooder HERE!

Now, anybody who knows about dogs and cares for them knows that dogs need to be limited in their time riding in cars with their heads hanging out the windows, much less sitting on top of the car.  Dogs can be blinded or experience other temporary or permanent conditions from being exposed to wind at high speeds for a period of time.  Romney has said that he constructed some kind of "wind shield" for the dog, but, as soon became apparent, it wasn't enough.    

To Romney (Do a Google Search)

As the Romneys drove along the highway, one of the Romney sons noticed brown stuff streaming down the back window.  Sure enough, Seamus, obviously in stress from the high and constant wind, had defecated in the cage atop the car.  (Dogs will generally not soil a closed area unless they are sick or in extreme stress.)  The story is that Romney pulled over, hosed the car and, apparently, the dog, then put the wet dog back up in the kennel as the family continued on its way.

This story is again making the news, as Romney looks more and more like the Republican nominee for the highest office in the land.

(Our friends at Dogs Against Romney have been getting press in many places and now have dog coats, T-shirts, and even hoodies for sale.. Alas, no chew toy that features Romney's beaming smile.. yet.  See below for pics.)

Now.. Why is this offensive?

I'm not going to go so far as to call Romney a sociopath, but cruelty to animals is a sign of such a disorder.  Romney may not consider his behavior towards Seamus as cruelty, not in the sense of promoting dog fighting, drowning cats, or other such truly abhorrent behavior.  But tying a dog to the top of the car for a long, high speed trip just shows a certain...  lack of understanding and care for the animal.  That Romney continued the practice after the dog made its anxiety or fear known by defecating in its cage makes the situation worse.


Here are a few links that discuss this car trip:

• Even Fox News published a piece from one of their contributors on Seamus.  

"Struggling"

If Romney can't understand a helpless dog, can this man possibly understand and be empathetic to the concerns and struggles of the 310,000,000 people in these United States?

Hmmmmmmmm.....

Let's see how he might handle those "struggles":

I recently came across a clip of Romney pressing the flesh in his failed bid to be the Senator from Massachusetts in the 1990's.  While the cameras rolled, he walked into a small cafe filled with middle aged and older "average" people.  He walked up to every person in the place, stuck out his hand and asked "How are you?" in his politician voice.  Most just mumbled the expected "O.K." or "fine", smiled and went back to their coffee.  But one woman, a waitress or perhaps the owner of the establishment, actually said, "I'm struggling."  

Here was Romney's chance to connect with the people.  If he either had a coach at his side, had thought quickly enough, or actually cared about this woman and her plight, he would have stopped, looked squarely at her, and said, "I'm sorry you are struggling.  If I were to be elected Senator, what kinds of things could I do to help you?"  He would have listened for a minute to whatever it was she had to say.  

But no.  Mitt was clueless as usual.. as was evident by his $10,000 bet, as was evident by his recent comment about the joys of firing people.. in a country in which over 140,000,000 pink slips have been handed out in the past four years.  Mitt just smiled at the lady, seemed to mutter something positive without ever hearing what the woman said, and went right on.  Not a second comment; not a second glance.

(As soon as I again find that clip, I will link to it here.)

Help for Struggling Homeowners

And in this economy, when millions have lost their homes due to loss of income; when millions may still lose their homes as many are still trying to recover; when millions of former homeowners hope to be able to rent a small apartment vs. living on the street or on a cousin's couch, Romney plans on bulldozing his too-small 3,000 square foot $12 million ocean front home (with a lap pool and a walkway down to the beach) and replacing it with an 11,000 foot ocean front home.  (He plans on keeping the lap pool).  

Even by presidential standards that's pretty extreme.  Now.. how many average workers did he lay off during his time at Bain to rake in the 3 million dollars that it cost just to buy that cozy but too small beach house?  Between 50 and a 100?  Well, that wouldn't even make a dent in our unemployment situation, would it?  So I guess it's o.k.  After all, these "job creators" really deserve every last dime, don't they?       

Sic 'em, boy!

   

Grrrrr.......  


Show your support for the pack.  Click HERE to browse or buy:

Private & Government Jobs Lost and Gained Month by Month in 2011

The following report is for 2011.  Current reports can be found HERE.

How many jobs, total, private, and government have been gained (created) or lost month by month in 2011?

Latest Updates and Revisions to these Numbers HERE!!

(Numbers of jobs in thousands, jobs lost/gained as stated.)

Month	Total Jobs	Jobs lost/gained	Private Jobs	Prvt Jobs lost/gained	Gov't Jobs	Govt Jobs lost/gained
Jan.	130,328	+68,000	108,102	+94,000	22,226	-26,000
Feb.	130,563	+235,000	108,363	+261,000	22,200	-26,000
March	130,757	+194,000	108,582	+219,000	22,175	-25,000
April	130,974	+217,000	108,823	+241,000	22,151	-24,000
May	130,999	+25,000	108,896	+73,000	22,103	-48,000
June	131,047	+48,000	108,997	+101,000	22,050	-53,000
July	131,174	+127,000	109,170	+173,000	22,004	-46,000
August	131,278	+104,000	109,242	+72,000	22,036	+32,000
Sept.	131,488	+210,000	109,462	+220,000	22,026	-10,000
Oct.	131,600*	+112,000*	109,596*	+134,000*	22,004*	-22,000*
Nov.	131,700*	+100,000*	109,716*	+120,000*	21,984*	-20,000*
Dec.	131,900	+200,000	109,928	+212,000	21,972	-12,000

The numbers above represent the latest revisions, which often differ from the preliminary numbers announced by the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) on the first Friday of a given month.  (* - Revisions since the last month's numbers). 


A total of 1,640,000 jobs have been ADDED/CREATED in 2011.  That is an average of 137,000 new jobs per month this year.  


1,920,000 jobs have been ADDED in the private sector in 2011; that is an average of 160,000 new private-sector jobs per month this year.


280,000 jobs have been LOST in the government sector in 2011; that is an average of 23,000 government sector jobs lost per month this year. 

• How Many Jobs Has Obama Created or Lost? (January 2012 Update)
• What Was the Unemployment Rate When Obama Took Office?
• How Many Jobs Were Created in 2011?
• How Many Jobs Were Created in January 2012?
• Private & Government Jobs Gained & Lost Month by Month 2011 to Date

Other jobs reports HERE!!

(Note:  All of my employment number reports are based on monthly reports and data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  States numbers reports are based on the monthly Regional and State Employment/Unemployment Survey .  The BLS reports include month over month and year over year numbers of state job numbers.  My analysis is taken from the monthly BLS data copied to an Excel spreadsheet every month.  I calculate detailed percentage increases/decreases, 3 month numbers, 2011 to date numbers, and I rank the states according to various metrics.)

How Many Jobs Were Created in 2011? (Final)

All Latest Jobs reports and updates (2011 through 2014 HERE!

The following numbers have been revised.

How many jobs were created in all of 2011, from December 2010 to December 2011?   2,103,000*  (The original number was 1,640,000)

How many private-sector jobs have been created in 2011?   1,920,000

Have jobs been lost in 2011?  NO.  I'll repeat that:  NO jobs have been lost (net) in 2011.          

• In seasonally adjusted numbers, 1,640,000 jobs have been created in 2011.  That's 137,000 jobs created per month in 2011.
• In "raw" unadjusted numbers, 1,671,000 jobs have been created in 2011.  That's 139,000 jobs created per month in 2011.
• In terms of total jobs and private-sector jobs, we have ONLY JOB GAINS in 2011.  

How many private-sector jobs were created in all of 2011, from December 2010 to December 2011?  Have private-sector jobs been created or  lost in 2011?

How Many Jobs Were Created in December 2011?

The following report is for the month of December 2011.  Current reports can be found HERE.

The following numbers are for December 2011.  For current reports, please click the link above.

200,000 new jobs were created in the month of December 2011.

The private sector generated 212,000 new jobs, but the government sector continued to shed jobs, 12,000 jobs, in December 2011.


176,000 more people reported themselves as working in December 2011. 

Latest (all 2011, 2012, & 2013) reports linked HERE!!

The unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of one percent to 8.5%, declining from 8.6% (or a revised 8.7%) in November.  The unemployment rate exceeded or equaled 9.0% for 8 months this year.  The last time that the unemployment rate was at or below 8.5% was February 2009.  Most of the decrease this month was due to people finding work, not to people dropping out of the work force, which is definitely a positive trend.

How Many Jobs Has Obama Created or Lost ? (December 2011 update)

The following report is for the month of December 2011.  Current reports can be found HERE.


Net Jobs Lost and Gained in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 to date 

• Private, govt jobs in 2011 through 2014 Month by Month 

• The Unemployment Rate: What does it measure? Where did it come from?

The following numbers are as of December 2011.  For current numbers & reports, please click one of the above links. 

How has Obama done on jobs?  
2,654,000 gained since "trough" of recession as of Dec. 2011.


How Has Obama done on private-sector jobs?
3,156,000 gained since the "trough" of the recession as of Dec. 2011.


More detail below.

            
Note:  The following detail is as of December 2011.  For current numbers, click a link above.

How many jobs have been lost or gained during the Obama administration?  Have more new jobs been created or have more jobs been lost under Obama to date?   

Here's a summary of data from the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics).  All numbers lost to the "trough" of the recession reflect ALL non-farm jobs lost between the time Obama took office and the lowest point of the recession in late 2009/early 2010 :

Seasonally adjusted:

• All jobs lost from the time Obama took office to "trough" (bottom of recession): .....4,303,000
• All jobs gained since "trough": ....2,654,000

Net LOSS in seasonally-adjusted jobs since Obama took office: ....1,649,000                      

"Raw:" numbers not seasonally adjusted:

• Jobs lost from the time Obama took office to trough: .....4,246,000                                                    
• Jobs gained since "trough": .....5,412,000

Net GAIN in raw unadjusted jobs since Obama took office: .....1,166,000 

How many private sector jobs have been gained or lost since Obama took office?

Seasonally adjusted:

• Private-sector jobs lost to "trough" (bottom of recession): .....4,209,000
• Private-sector jobs gained since "trough": .....3,156,000

         

*(This is the number often used by Obama and the Democrats as the number of private jobs created since the "trough" of the recession .  It is a correct number, but it is a seasonally-adjusted number.  In "real" unadjusted numbers, 5,463,000 private sector jobs have been created since the "trough" of the recession.)

  

Net LOSS in seasonally-adjusted private-sector jobs since Obama took office: ....1,053,000                      

"Raw:" numbers not seasonally adjusted: 

• Private-sector jobs lost to "trough": .....4,151,000 
• Private-sector jobs gained since "trough": .....5,463,000                              

Net GAIN in "raw" unadjusted private-sector jobs since Obama took office: .....1,312,000  

Breakdown of private and government jobs lost and gained?  HERE!

          Other current reports HERE!! 

Summary of December jobs activity: 

Jobs increased 200,000 in total in December 2011 (vs. an increase of 100,000 in November). Private sector jobs continued to increase while government sector jobs continued to decrease. Private sector jobs increased by 212,000 (vs. 120,000 in November), while government jobs decreased by 12,000 (vs. a decrease of 20,000 in November).  

Is it true that over 2 million private sector jobs have been created in the Obama administration as the Democrats claim?

(Summary of gross and net jobs activity since Obama was inaugurated is below the jump---  Keep reading!)